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July 27, 2010
Lynchburg-Hillcats.com
Lynchburg matched their season-high with nine runs in a 9-3 win over Frederick on Tuesday night at Harry Grove Stadium.
With the aid of a pair of errors, Lynchburg started early again with a run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Frederick responded though with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 advantage. Billy Rowell and Buck Britton both singled in a run with two outs in the inning.
The Hillcats would tie the game in the third inning with an RBI groundout by Denis Phipps. An inning later they tacked on three more runs to take a 5-2 lead.
Kevin Coddington singled in run and Josh Fellhauer and Brodie Greene both hit sacrifice flies in the frame.
The Cats weren't done though, as they followed their three-run fourth inning with a four-run fifth inning to make it a 9-2 contest.
Frederick would plate a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to close out the scoring. Britton drove-in his second run of the ballgame with a sacrifice fly.
The win went to starter Chase Ware (1-2) for Lynchburg (14-17, 43-58) and the loss went to starter Ryan Berry (2-2) for Frederick (15-16, 56-45).
Ware picked up his first win at the Advanced-A level and his first win as a starter this season.
The Hillcats go for the series sweep on Wednesday night in a 7:00 p.m. start at Harry Grove Stadium.
Right-hander Lance Janke (3-8, 6.66) will get the call for the Cats opposite righty Oliver Drake (2-5, 4.62) for the Keys.
July 27, 2010
SalemSox.com
Salem, VA - Zeke Spruill exacted some revenge from an early season start against the Red Sox, blanking Salem over five innings, as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans knocked off the Red Sox 5-2 at Lewis-Gale Field Tuesday night.
Spruill picked up his first win of the season, and gave the Pelicans just their third win in 16 attempts against the Sox all year.
In his first start against the Sox back on April 16, Spruill was blasted for nine runs on 12 hits in just 3.1 innings and didn't pitch again until a relief appearance against Salem in early July.
This time things were different, as Spruill kept the Sox off balance through five innings, scattering five singles while striking out one in his outing.
Cory Harrilchak and Dan Nelson provided the pop in support of Spruill, as the duo doubled with one out in the first to put the Pelicans up 1-0.
Harrilchak brought home the second run of the game for Myrtle in the third on his second double of the game, but was not credited with an RBI due to a throwing error by Mitch Dening, allowing the run to score.
After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Harrilchak scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Jones to put the Birds up 3-0 after three.
Harrilchak and Nelson were in the middle of things again in the fifth, as Nelson singled in Harrilchak, who had doubled with two outs, to put Myrtle up 4-0.
After leading off the sixth with a double, Pelican first baseman Mike Jones stole third and scampered home as third baseman Will Middlebrooks missed the throw from catcher Tim Federowicz that wound up in left field, increasing the Birds' cushion to 5-0.
Tyrelle Harris built upon Spuill's success with three perfect innings, retiring all nine batters he faced, including four strikeouts.
Salem attempted a rally in the last of the ninth off reliever Tommy Palica, as Drew Hedman doubled home two runs to break up the shutout, but Ryan Dent grounded out with the tying run on deck to end the contest.
Sox starter Stolmy Pimentel wasn't as sharp as his last two outings, as the righthander gave up four runs on six hits in five innings while falling to 6-8 on the year.
Dent and Middlebrooks were the lone Salem batters with multiple hits on a night where the Sox mustered just one extra base knock, the ninth-inning double from Hedman.
The Sox will look to avoid their first series loss of the year to the Pelicans in the rubber match of the three-game set Wednesday night.
Miguel Gonzalez looks for his fifth win of the year against Myrtle's Brett Oberholtzer, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM.
July 26, 2010
HokieSports.com
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Virginia Tech was the choice of the media assembled for the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff to win the ACC's Coastal Division and defeat Florida State for the 2010 ACC Football Championship in voting which was announced Monday at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro.
A record number of ballots were cast at the Kickoff with 98 media members voting.
Virginia Tech was chosen on 50 ballots to win its fourth ACC football title in just its seventh year in the league.
Florida State finished second with 26 votes, followed by Miami (10), Georgia Tech (8), Boston College (2) and North Carolina (2).
The Hokies were tabbed to win the ACC's Coastal Division with 532 points and 62 first-place votes outdistancing Miami (444 points, 20 first-place votes), Georgia Tech (408), North Carolina (379), Duke (169) and Virginia (126).
Florida State compiled 565 points and 78 first-place votes to claim the Atlantic Division title over Clemson (479), Boston College (389), NC State (283), Wake Forest (203) and Maryland (139).
Virginia Tech was previously chosen as the preseason ACC gridiron favorite in 2007 and 2009. The Hokies captured the 2007 ACC title, but finished in the Coastal Division second to ACC champion Georgia Tech last year.
Florida State senior quarterback Christian Ponder, who led the ACC in total offense in 2009 (321.8) after nine games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, was a runaway selection as the ACC's Preseason Player of the Year.
Ponder garnered 45 votes to finish ahead of Virginia Tech tailback Ryan Williams (16) and quarterback Tyrod Taylor (11), NC State senior quarterback Russell Wilson (6) and North Carolina defensive end Robert Quinn (6). In all, 12 ACC players received votes for ACC Preseason Player of the Year, including Tech's Darren Evans.
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Liberty Advances with Win over Robert E. Lee 10/22/09 - As time wound down in the first half, with Robert E. Lee seeking to break a 14-14 tie at Liberty High in a Region III, Division 3, semifinal rematch with the Minutemen, Anthony Reynolds made a one-handed interception of a 20-yard pass by Lee quarterback Devante White near his own goal line.
The ball was tipped around twice by teammates before Reynolds picked it off and returned it 100-yards for an improbable score that gave Liberty a lead it wouldn’t relinquish in a 35-28 triumph.
Liberty coach Chris Watts knew Reynolds was headed for the end zone after he picked up a block by Matt Kerr around midfield. “That was huge,” Watts said. He and the Minutemen reserves ran with Reynolds, on the opposite side of the field, with Watts holding up one finger, Reynolds’ number, signaling an extra-point kick by Zach Rawlins. That gave Liberty a 21-14 lead just four seconds before halftime, and swung the momentum in the Minutemen’s favor. “That was tough,” Lee coach David Tibbs said. “We weren’t expecting that. “The reason we threw into the end zone was we had no timeouts left,” Tibbs added, noting he would have settled for a 37-yard field goal attempt by All-Region III kicker Dustin Burdick had the pass fallen incomplete. It was Reynolds’ fifth touchdown return of either a kickoff or an interception this season, and was a deciding factor in a back-and-forth battle that turned into a second-half shootout. “It reminded me of the regional championship game against Gretna in 2002,” Watts said of a game the Minutemen won 42-35 en route to the Group AA, Division 3, state championship. Virginia senior Vic Hall was the Hawks’ quarterback back then, before guiding Gretna to back-to-back state titles in 2003 and 2004. White, who ran for nearly 2,000 yards and threw for nearly 1,000 this season, resembled Hall on Friday night. He also looked a lot like Dae’Quan Scott, the quarterback now playing at JMU who guided the Fighting Leeman to a 35-7 victory over the Minutemen in last season’s regional semifinal. He rushed 27 times for 193 yards and completed 10 of 19 passes for a season-high 199 yards and four touchdowns, starting with an 80-yard strike on a heave that hit Chris Williams in stride down the left sideline that tied the game at 7. That came one play after Malcolm McCoy sprinted right up the middle 36 yards for a touchdown on Liberty’s fourth play from scrimmage. White completed third-and-goal and fourth-and-goal touchdown passes to Terrell Mickens in the second and third quarters, respectively. The first, lofted in the back right corner of the end zone, put Lee (8-4) on top 14-7, and the next, following a 61-yard run by Reynolds up the left sideline on the fourth play of the second half, came on a crossing route over the middle that trimmed Liberty’s lead to 28-21. “You knew it was going to come down to who scored last,” Tibbs said. After the teams traded touchdowns—Liberty on a 45-yard run by Thomas Clark set up by Kerr’s 27-yard pass from Tyler Bowyer and Lee on a six-play, 88-yard drive capped by a 24-yard pass from White to Williams—the Leemen had one final chance to tie it up. But they started from their own 4, where Joe McDonagh recovered a fumble on a bad exchange by Liberty quarterback Kody Outhong, who was filling in for an injured Tyler Bowyer. Outhong had marched the Minutemen from their 46 down to Lee’s 3 in four rushing plays — an 11 yard run by Clark, eight-yard carry by McCoy and 30-yard burst by Reynolds down to the 5 — before the fumble prevented Liberty from clinching the victory. “We’d have liked to have finished it right there, but we were able to get a big stop when we needed to,“ Watts said. After White picked up two first downs to the 37, the Leemen stalled at the 42 and were forced to punt with six minutes remaining in regulation. “That would have been the drive of the year if we scored on that one,” Tibbs said. Liberty never gave the ball back, moving the ball from its 23 to Lee’s 10 on 13 plays that drained the clock. “When we needed to move the ball, we did,” Watts said. “Our offense was clicking pretty well.” The Minutemen racked up 411 yards on the ground, even on their wet turf that postponed the game from Friday night. “It was hard to get traction on that field,“ said Liberty defensive tackle Brandon Sparrow, who rushed twice for 14 yards on a 50-yard drive capped by Bowyer’s 10-yard run after a fake to Sparrow up the middle. “We were slipping and sliding with all the mud.“ “They’re a very powerful offense,“ Tibbs said. The top-seeded Minutemen (10-1), off to their best start since 2005, when they lost at Richlands in the state semifinals, will host second-seeded Northside, a 21-13 semifinal winner over Brookville, in Friday’s Region III championship. -Ted Allen |
